Ready to Save Lives: A Preparedness Toolkit for Sexual and Reproductive Health Care in Emergencies

The purpose of the toolkit is to bring together existing learning and guidance as a starting point for stakeholders to begin SRH preparedness work. Within the SRH sector the field of preparedness is relatively new and growing. More collective effort is required to further evaluate the impact of preparedness efforts and push the field forward. This effort is a first attempt at synthesizing draft guidance for SRH preparedness, and is intended for field testing. The toolkit recognizes the longstanding work of the field of emergency and disaster risk management, and endeavors to bridge that work with the human rights-oriented and peoplecentered field of sexual and reproductive health.

The toolkit is meant to be used by country-level decision makers and stakeholders—whether in government, national and local organizations (including those led by women and youth), or international agencies—who want to ensure the provision of quality, appropriate SRH services during an emergency. This includes SRH actors looking to become more familiar and engaged with national and subnational emergency preparedness efforts and systems, as well as disaster risk management (DRM) actors who wish to better understand and integrate SRH into emergency management and preparedness work. The toolkit is intended to align with the workstreams of the Grand Bargain, particularly those connected to localization of humanitarian action, participation of affected communities, and collaborative work between humanitarian, development, and government actors.